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The IPO season in the first half of 2019 was one of the busiest in history. We recently took a look back at the biggest IPOs in the first six months of this year; today we’re focusing on big IPOs that could come through in the second half of the year.
While it's impossible to carry out the due diligence on an IPO without the S-1 filing, we’ll seek to get an initial sense of the IPO market ahead, and start to focus on the analysis of every company. As the S-1 filings become available, we’ll also cover each one individually.
Latest Valuation: $47 billion (2019)
WeWork started out with a simple concept of shared working spaces, renting out office space and offering flexibility and built-in amenities. If a business needs an office for a few people and/or a short period, WeWork allows it to stay flexible on the length of time and space it needs, while providing office supplies to employees.
The biggest question revolves around WeWork’s business model. The company is reported to have lost $1.9 billion on revenue of $1.8 billion in 2018. WeWork claims that the losses are part of investment in future growth, and while that may be true, $47 billion seems like a lofty valuation for a real-estate company deep in red ink.
WeWork submitted its S-1 filing to the SEC in December 2018, but there is no immediate timeline for its IPO. Investors will have to wait until a few weeks before the actual IPO before gaining access to its financial history.
Latest Valuation: $38 billion (2019)
Another star of the so-called sharing ‘economy’, Airbnb has been the object of IPO rumors for at least a year now. However, the wait may soon be over. With the stock market at an all-time high, this would be an ideal time for Airbnb to offer its shares to the public.
Airbnb allows private individuals to earn extra income by hosting guests in their homes. It's grown hugely popular in recent years, and hosts are reportedly putting up 2 million people a night. Financially, Airbnb seems to be in fine shape, having reported over $1 billion in revenue in the third quarter. Additionally, Airbnb is said to have had a positive EBITDA over the past two years, cementing its position as a sustainable and profitable business.
It hasn’t filed its S-1 yet, but once it does, the company could go public in a matter of months.
Latest Valuation: $25 billion (2015)
Palantir is a rather secretive data mining and analysis company, working for governments as well as private clients. It analyzes vast amounts of data and finds actionable information in what would otherwise be considered noise. It is rumored to have helped the U.S. government catch Osama Bin Laden in 2011. Palantir was established in 2005, so an IPO is overdue.
The company is reported to have generated nearly $1 billion in revenue last year, and to have narrowed its losses to around $30 million. Its revenue growth is said to be around 40%, which is an impressive number for a well-established company. More recent estimations have put Palantir’s valuation as high as $41 billion in 2019.
A 2019 IPO isn’t guaranteed for Palantir. The company probably needs to overhaul its finance department and hire an experienced CFO before even filing its S-1. Nevertheless, some early investors are clamoring for liquidity and the current IPO window may be too good to pass up.
Latest Valuation: $4.1 billion (2018)
Fitness equipment maker Peloton is preparing for a 2019 IPO. In early June, the company announced it had confidentially filed its S-1 with the SEC. Peloton sells stationary bikes and treadmills with large touch screens, allowing users to connect to classes. The bikes cost almost $2,000 and buyers must also pay nearly $500 annual membership fee for access to classes. It has reportedly sold 400,000 bikes so far, and its revenues for the past fiscal year are said to be above $700 million, almost twice the $370 million in revenue it brought in last year.
Peloton sells more than bikes. It also sells community and status. However, over the long term, the question remains whether the company can scale up to the millions. Is it anything more than a glorified fitness company? We’ll get the answers once we get the S-1 filing, but our initial assessment is that Peloton is the type of company Wall Street will love irrationally.
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Trade Update – 10 Dec 2020: All Dispute Options on Australian Table, Chinese Twist-Ties Get A Second Hit and more
Weekly trade review provided by Chatto Creek Advisory Pty.
Chatto Creek Advisory Pty Ltd is a Melbourne-based strategic consultancy specialising in trade policy advice and government engagement strategy. It is headed by Russell Scoular, an executive with rich government relations, trade policy, and business experience throughout the Asia Pacific.
AUSTRALIAN WARNS OF CHINA CONCERN: Trade Minister Birmingham told The Senate on Wednesday the Government was “increasingly concerned” at trade measures imposed by China. The targeted nature raised concerns about China’s adherence to the “letter and spirit” of the China FTA and WTO obligations.
ALL DISPUTE OPTIONS ON AUSTRALIAN TABLE: Trade Minister Birmingham told also The Senate the Government was considering “all dispute settlement options” in order to support Australian exporters. He said China’s lack of engagement had prevented the use of structures in the Australia-China FTA.
CHINESE TWIST-TIES GET A SECOND HIT: The US Commerce Department has announced preliminary anti-dumping duties of 72.96% on twist ties from China. This is the second hit for twist-ties – plastic coated wire for tying bags – in a fortnight following the imposition of anti-subsidy duties of up to 122.5%.
NEW PACIFIC FTA BEGINS SUNDAY: The Pacer Plus Closer Economic Relations Agreement will begin on Sunday. The FTA covers goods services and investment and will play a key role in boosting trade between Australia, New Zealand and Pacific Island economies. It will include development assistance.
AUSTRALIA EXTENDS RUSSIAN NITRATE INQUIRY: The Anti-Dumping Commission has extended an inquiry into whether to extend anti-dumping duties on ammonium nitrate from the Russian Federation. The duties were first levied in 2001 and are due to expire in May 2021. A report is now due in April 2021.
NEW ZEALAND LAUNCHES APEC 2021: New Zealand launched APEC 2021 this week with senior officials from the 21 member economies participating in a two-day virtual meeting to finalize a policy agenda focussing on reigniting regional growth. A high-level symposium was also held mid-week.
TAIWAN CONTINUES PURSUIT OF US TRADE AGREEMENT: Taiwan is continuing its pursuit of stronger economic and trade relationships. President Tsai spoke this week of the importance of Taiwan and the US being able to progress a bilateral trade agreement. The US is Taiwan’s second largest trading partner.
VANUATU GRADUATES TO NEW STATUS: Vanuatu has this week graduated from least developed to developing country status – a move which could see it lose access to some tariff preferences. It is the 6th economy to make the transition. It has signed the Pacer Plus FTA but has yet to complete its ratification.
US LAUNCHES STRAWBERRY INQUIRY: The US International Trade Commission has begun a fact-finding investigation into imports of fresh and chilled strawberries. An inquiry has also begun for bell peppers. The inquiries were requested by USTR Lighthizer following concern US producers faced rising imports.
INDIA WINS INVESTMENT AWARD: The UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has this week named India as the winner of the 2020 UN Investment Promotion Award. It follows a review of work by 120 investment promotion agencies. South Korea and Singapore have been previous winners.

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Voddler, the so-called “Spotify for movies”, has announced its first mobile app for Android.
The free Android app will be rolled out in stages. A version limited to movie trailers is currently being tested with Voddler users, and a more featured offering – full movies, and sharing of playlists on social networks – should be available by the end of this month.
Because the service is… → Read More
[Sweden] Movie-streaming service Voddler (the so called ”Spotify for movies”) has received about 3.4 million Euros (35 million SEK) in funding from a group of private investors. The money will supposedly go to developing the service.
Voddler has chosen to not to give out any info about the investors or how large their share in the company will be. The company has about 50 share holders to… → Read More
[Sweden] Voddler, the Stockholm-based online video offering that’s being described as “Spotify for movies”, has signed content partnerships with Paramount and Disney. A deal with Sony Pictures is also said to be eminent.
Voddler, Inc., the company behind the new service, was formed back in 2005 and has offices in Stockholm, Palo Alto, and Beijing. It’s thought to have taken around $16 million… → Read More


text: By increasing the value of local participation in the skin and facial beauty industry in the last decade, small businesses have transformed the industry by introducing innovative products and treatments. But awareness, reach and production at scale have remained major barriers. The Skin and Facial Beauty Fair is an opportunity for small businesses in skin and facial care to engage the wider market with their range of traditional, specialist and organic skin care products. With its large population, it is not unreasonable to imagine that Nigeria’s skin and facial beauty industry is growing at a faster rate than the 4.4% global compounded annual growth rate reported in 2018 on revenues of USD 183 billion. This huge market is filled with immense opportunities for small businesses. Register now!


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After many months of rumours, LG has officially announced it is quitting the smartphone business.
Whatever your opinions were on LG’s recent crop of phones, there’s no doubting the brand has released some of the wildest and most innovative phones of the last couple of decades.
Not all of these earned a place on our best phones list and not all the ideas worked too well in practice (yes, we’re looking at you modular phones). But you can’t say LG didn’t at least try. Even in the last few years, LG has dabbled with unusual form-factors, extra screen-toting add-ons and rollables.
So what have been the highlights in LG’s extensive phone back catalogue? Let’s have a look and see.
The G Flex was LG well, flexing in 2013. This was a phone with a curved pOLED display and it was unlike anything that came before it. Actually, aside from the 2015 sequel, there has been little like it since. Just look at how much of a curve the display had. What was the point? Well, I am still not entirely sure.
The G Flex also had what LG called a ‘self-healing back’. Instead of a normal plastic top layer, the rear of the G Flex had a thin layer of resin covered by a protective film that was supposed to make scratches invisible – or at least less visible – after a short period.
Did it work? Here’s what reviewer Andrew Williams said at the time, “it is pretty effective at reducing the appearance of light scratches caused by coins and keys in your pocket. After a few minutes’ rest after being lightly abused with a few coins, there was no sign of any damage – despite the scratches being initially quite clear.”
Modular attachment for the LG G5
Announced at MWC 2016, the LG G5 wanted to be far more than another Android flagship. This was LG’s attempt to create a modular smartphone ecosystem, where a variety of accessories could be added directly onto the body of the phone.
You would slide off the bottom and attach one of the modules, or ‘Friends’ as LG referred to them.
The idea was certainly innovative and I remember being won over by the sales pitch. It’s a shame then that in reality, things didn’t work out quite as expected.
First off, there were only two Friends launched with the phone – a camera grip that added a separate shutter button and a jog dial for zoom, alongside a 32-bit B&O branded DAC for improved audio.
In my LG G5 review from 2016 I said, “I find myself wishing that LG had started off with slightly more enticing accessories. The DAC is a nice idea – I’m all for ways to improve smartphone audio – but the camera grip doesn’t actually make the camera any better; it just makes the shooting process ‘easier’.
“I also don’t like the fact it encourages people to use digital zoom – photo tech that universally produces terrible photos on all the smartphones I’ve tested, including the G5.”
After the initial batch, a few more friends arrived in the form of a 360-degree camera and a downright terrible VR headset. We reviewed the 360 VR at the time, saying “Honestly, I’ve had a much better experience using Google Cardboard, which costs less than £20.” Ouch.
LG canned the Friends modular experiment for the following years LG G6 and, honestly, I wasn’t surprised.
Teaming up with Prada
While most of the phones on this list are smartphones, some of LG’s most iconic work was done when mobile phones were very different.
The LG Prada was a 2007 collaborating with famed Italian luxury designer Prada (you’d probably guessed that from the name) and it made quite the splash.
It was pricey at $777, but it was also the first phone to come with a capacitive touchscreen and hit shelves just before Steve Jobs unveiled the original iPhone.
Dual Screen cases
LG’s last few flagship and pricier mid-range options touted a dual-screen case as one of the key features of differentiation. This was LG’s competition to the growing foldable phone fad and in many ways it bettered them.
Instead of forcing you to pay over the odds for a dual-screen experience, LG included a case with a secondary panel built-in with phones like the Velvet.
You could clip the case on and double your screen real-estate, using that second panel as a game controller or just an extension of the main display.
Like many of LG’s ideas on this list, the idea is a lot better than the outcome. While the dual-screen accessory was a nice concept, it was never utilised properly by developers updating their apps and felt more like a gimmick in the end.
This bonkers dual-screen sort-of-foldable phone had a main display that flipped out to sit horizontally. This was then paired with a smaller display below.
I mean, just look at it in use…
The Wing was a decent phone that never came to the UK and it seems now it never will. It was just another example of LG trying something wild that didn’t quite land as expected.
Moving the buttons to the back
One feature that a number of LG phones released between 2013-2015 had in common was odd button placement. Instead of the more traditional side-mounted lock and volume keys, LG had a habit of shifting them to the back of the phone. Like this…
The LG G2 did this and in our 2013 review we said, “ultimately, reaching to the rear of the phone to lock the screen feels far more awkward than simply tapping a top or side-mounted control.”
With the news of LG shuttering its smartphone business, it seems the LG Rollable phone teased earlier this year will never come to be.
There was only a brief look at the device shown, but it was already clear this was going to be another attempt for LG to try something different.
Do you have a favourite LG phone? Let us know @trustedreviews


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CLINK Cyber Cafe Manager was launched to ensure cyber
In india there are many (countless) cybe cafes in india.hear a new software “CLINK Cyber Cafe Manager” was launched to ensure cyber Cafes security and better data management at cyber cafes to stop the cybe crime.
Manglore Police conducted a workshop/seminar where they addressed Cyber cafe owners and asked them to keep records of customers to prevent cyber crime.Addressing an interactive session Deputy Commissioner of Police R.Ramesh said that the Information Technology Act of 2008 mandates that every cyber cafe owner keep records of the user lest he be held as an accomplice or accused. This data would help the owners in the event of miscreants using their premises to commit cyber crime
It was during this session that Ideacts Innovations introduced a new software that would ensure better data management at cyber cafe.


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LG confirms Wing is That the Title of its new Smartphone
LG has supported its forthcoming phone is going to be known as Wing (the Wing?) and will be revealed at its announcement event on September 14th.
The device is believed to have two screens at a swiveling form factor, with a recent teaser movie showing what looks like a sliding mechanism that may rotate to a T form.
In addition to its swiveling screens, accounts about the Wing thus far have indicated that the device will encourage 5G, have a triple-rear camera range using a 64-megapixel principal sensor, and will operate on a Snapdragon 7-series chip.
The device will be LG’s first introduced under its Explorer Project, a new mobile category the firm states is geared toward”discovering new ways to interact with cellular devices… and challenging established user norms,” adding that the Wing will”produce a new and distinct form factor and mobile expertise that will be impossible to create with conventional smartphones”


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Indian firms to sign MoUs in Penang
GEORGE TOWN: Some 12 memorandum of understandings (MoUs) that could generate over US$10mil in investments for Penang are expected to be signed soon by at least seven Indian companies with local businessmen.
Mixed views on possible retail credit bubble
PETALING JAYA: Amid the current healthy loan growth trend, there is concern that a retail credit bubble may just be in the making, according to some analysts.
Tips on how to get loans
EVERY year, the SMI Association of Malaysia receives complaints from its members about the difficulties of securing credit.
Interest rate hikes starting to help ringgit
WHEN Bank Negara raised interest rates for the third time this year earlier this month, expectations were that the ringgit would appreciate.
Adamus has 87% voting shares of M3nergy
PETALING JAYA: Adamus Avenue Sdn Bhd, which is seeing resistance from M3nergys board in its takeover attempt of the company, told Bursa Malaysia that it has received valid acceptances resulting in it holding 87.01% of the voting shares of M3nergy.
JCorp statement on RM3.6bil debts next month
PETALING JAYA: Johor state investment arm Johor Corp (JCorp) is slated to make an announcement on the full status of its RM3.58bil outstanding corporate debts next month.
Prudential UK eyes P&O takeover
PETALING JAYA: Prudential UK is believed to have submitted an application to Bank Negara to commence talks on the potential acquisition of local general insurance company, Pacific & Orient Bhd (P&O).
Doubt over Fotronics recoverability of trade receivables
KUALA LUMPUR: Messrs CroweHorwath, external auditors to data storage company Fotronics Corp Bhd, has expressed doubt over the recoverability of trade receivables totalling RM12.7mil due to the company, and are unable to ascertain the salvage value of machinery with a carrying value of RM1.9mil.
F&N names Ng as new CEO
PETALING JAYA: Fraser and Neave Holdings Bhd (F&N) has appointed Datuk Ng Jui Sia as the companys new chief executive officer.
MMHE cautions Govt may intervene in its ops
PETALING JAYA: Main Market-bound Malaysia Marine and Heavy Engineering Bhd (MMHE) has cautioned would-be investors of possible Government intervention in its business operations.
Deviation in Ngiu Kee results
PETALING JAYA: Ngiu Kee Corp (M) Bhd said in a filing with Bursa Malaysia that there is a deviation of 109% between the unaudited profit after taxation and minority interest for the year ended March 31, 2010 of RM2.48mil announced on May 26 and the audited loss after taxation and minority interest of RM5.93mil.
Time sells 1.27% more in TdC for RM18.9mil
PETALING JAYA: Time Engineer-ing Bhd has disposed of 32.2 million shares in Time dotCom Bhd (TdC), representing 1.27% of the issued and paid-up share capital of TdC, in the open market for RM18.9mil cash.
Malaysia-New Zealand FTA to come into effect Aug 1
KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysia-New Zealand Free Trade Area Agreement will come into force on Aug 1 after 10 rounds of intense negotiations, said International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed.
Unisem Q2 profit doubles on improved sales
PETALING JAYA: Unisem (M) Bhd said its second quarter ended June 30 net profit doubled to RM48mil from RM23.9mil a year ago as sales surged 41% to RM359mil.
Landing a dream job
HAVE you ever wandered through the classified ads, and just when you thought youd found that job you had been looking for, you read the fine print, only to discover that youre lacking something oh-so trivial?
Battle for Parkway
IF Khazanah Nasional Bhd could turn back the clock, it would right up to March this year. US buyout firm TPG Capital, which was looking to exit Singapore-listed Parkway Holdings Ltd, had offered its 23.9% block to Khazanah. On hindsight wisdom, if the state investment arm had grabbed the chance, it could have saved itself a sweet S$400mil (RM935mil).
Parkways long history with Malaysia
YOU could call it a home-coming of sorts. Parkway Holdings Ltd, which will likely fall into the hands of Khazanah Nasional Bhd, was founded back in the 1970s by Malaysians.
Parkway an expensive investment with good potential
WITH Khazanah Nasional Bhd potentially forking out a whopping S$3.5bil (RM8.2bil) to acquire all the shares in Singapores Parkway Holdings Ltd they dont already own, is it getting its moneys worth?
Fortis continues to look for growth in the region
THE vehicle (Parkway) may have changed but not the vision, according to Malvinder Mohan Singh recently in an interview with Indias Business Standard newspaper.
Your 10 questions for Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam
Featuring economist and former civil servant Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam.
Up close and personal with Jim Rogers
SELF-MADE billionaire Jim Rogers is known by many names.
Players absorb costs to remain competitive
GEORGE TOWN: Despite the rising production costs due to higher raw material prices, branded consumer products manufacturers are absorbing the costs to remain competitive in the domestic and overseas markets.
CIMB holds talks with clients
CIMB is in talk with its private banking clients whose money is stuck in SJ Asset Management Sdn Bhd (SJAM), the company that had its licence revoked by the Securities Commission (SC) .
News in brief
Nazir: Decide quickly on NEM affirmative action
KUALA LUMPUR: The Govern-ment needs to decide quickly on the affirmative action under the New Economic Model (NEM) to erase the uncertainty among investors, said CIMB Group Holdings Bhd chief executive officer Datuk Seri Nazir Razak.
KL set to host major SME summit next month
MALAYSIAS largest gathering of small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) next month is expected to generate RM95mil in business for its participants compared with RM80mil last year, says Business Media International (BMI) executive director Jessy Leong.
Bosch powers on in Asia
WHEN the financial crisis came two years ago, Boschs Power Tools division remained steadfast to counter the crisis in Asia-Pacific.
Xingquan bullish about future demand
CHINA listings on Bursa Malaysia have disappointed a lot of investors with their weak performance.
10 ways of doing without FDI
A STIR of sorts has been caused by the story that foreign direct investment (FDI) into the country for 2009 fell 81% to US$1.4bil (about RM4.5bil) from US$7.3bil (RM24bil).
Corporate governance and doing it right
OF late, the issue of governance has been in the limelight. I have just returned from the Asian Shadow Financial Regulation Committee (ASFRC) meeting, held in conjunction with the Asian Financial Management Conference in Singapore.
Between the mountain and the deep blue sea
KOTA Kinabalu, more commonly known as KK, is a favorite vacation spot that my wife and I enjoy visiting.
Fortunes diverge for UK house prices and economy
LONDON: After marching to the same tune for the past decade, Britains property market and its economy are going separate ways, and further house price falls look likely into 2011 even if the recovery broadens.
Redeveloping Kampung Kerinchi
THE rapid development of Bangsar South City in Kampung Kerinchi by UOA Group is now changing the landscape of the area that used to be a slum with squatters.
Building homes for different budgets
THE rising cost of living, especially for city dwellers, mean they now have lower disposable income and may need to watch their spending even more closely.
By HAFIDZ MAHPAR.
Spencer Azizul on the mend
LIKE for many other advertising agencies, 2009 had been a painful year for Spencer Azizul Sdn Bhd. Its revenue plunged about 50%, and this wholly Malaysian-owned agency fell into the red for the first time since 1997.
Education campaign for GLCs needed
THE Association of Accredited Advertising Agents Malaysia (4As) should start a campaign to educate companies how to shortlist and choose their communications agencies, says Spencer Azizul Sdn Bhd executive director Michael Tang.
Bullish bias intact
REVIEW: News of General Electric raising its quarterly dividend by 20% delivered a shot of confidence to US investors, pushing the Dow up 102.32 points to 10,424.62. A spike in crude oil prices to above US$79 per barrel and the stress tests result, showing most European banks passed the examination also stoked appetite for risk.
Genuine advice froman economist
Review by Andrew Lee.
Compiled by THEAN LEE CHENG.
Report: Investor Li Lu could be successor to Buffett
NEW YORK: Li Lu, a Chinese American investor and hedge fund manager, could be in line to take a top investment role at Warren Buffetts Berkshire Hathaway and even succeed the legendary US investor, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.
Samsung Electronics sees weak profit after record Q2
SEOUL: Samsung Electronics, the worlds No.1 memory chipmaker, warned of weaker margins and profit growth after posting record quarterly earnings, as prices of chips and flat screens drop and smartphone competition grows.
Kia Q2 profit beats analysts estimates
SEOUL: Kia Motors Corps quarterly net profit rose 61%, beating estimates as the No. 2 automaker in South Korea enjoyed brisk sales of newly launched models.
Li Ka-shing to buy EDFs UK grids for US$9.1bil
HONG KONG: Billionaire Li Ka-shing has offered to buy UK power grids from Frances EDF for £5.8bil (US$9.1bil) in the biggest single European acquisition by a North Asian group.


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A rare piece of history is currently on display at the Institute of Contemporary Indian Art in Kala Ghoda. At an exhibition titled, A Journey into the time of Maharajas, one can not only get a glimpse into the finery of early twentieth century maharajas through rare photographs on show, but also view the priceless timepieces worn by the royals.In a collaboration with art organisation Tasveer, Vacheron Constantin, the world's oldest Swiss Haute Horlogerie watch manufacturer is displaying two rare watches that belonged to Sir Bhupindra Singh, Maharaja of Patiala. These include a 1916 women’s watch featuring intricate engravings and a 1909 pocket watch, which has an alarm and chronograph with a minute counter, worn by the Patiala royalties. The watches have been brought to Indian from the Geneva museum where they are currently housed. Some of the original photographs on display are almost a century-old.
"Last year, we started the process of looking for various associations in India that promote art. After a long search we found Tasveer, which promotes photography as an art. We sat together and found a lot of similarities between them and us," says Yassin Tag, who is currently representing the watchmaker in India. Adds Tag, "Our association with India dates back to 1849, when we first received a letter from a merchant in Calcutta. The grandson of our founder, Jon Roux, spent three years, from 1869 to 1872, in Bombay. He used to map the markets looking for business. He came back to Geneva with numerous orders. The exhibition, which was first flagged off in New Delhi, is on in Mumbai till October 29. Thereafter it will be in exhibit at Tasveer galleries in in Ahmedabad, Bangalore and Kolkata.


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Need a fabric face mask?
The challenge is finding a fabric face mask when everyone in Hawaii suddenly wants one.
Now that state and government leaders have recommended that residents wear a face mask when going out in public, and grocery stores like Foodland will require it, the demand for them has skyrocketed.
Local seamstresses have mobilized, and formed community groups to sew them for family, friends, first responders and health care workers. Facebook groups have popped up, with teams of seamstresses sharing patterns, tutorials and tips, and volunteering to sew them for those who need them.
Hawaii Kai resident Charlotte Yee sewed her own out of an old bedsheet, and has been making them for friends.
Yee, who had already been wearing masks weeks before officials recommended it, said wearing one is “the new polite.”
“It made sense when they were saying some people were asymptomatic,” she said. “Fortunately here in Hawaii, because we have such a strong tie to Asia, there are a lot of people who do wear masks if they think they’re sick and want to protect others from getting sick.”
There is no real downside to wearing a mask, Yee said, and she is pleased to see more people wearing one.
Retailers have also stepped up, and are selling fabric face masks in a colorful array of prints and designs — some with built-in wire, pockets for filters, and adjustable ear loops. Choices range from simple, solid-color cotton masks to Aloha prints to custom- designed ones made by fashion designers such as Allison Izu, Kini Zamora and Ari South.
Most are selling the masks in order to donate more of them to health care workers and nonprofits in Hawaii and abroad. But many are sold out or swamped by demand, and struggling to keep up with orders.
Josh Feldman, president and CEO of Tori Richard, opted to make them and give them away a week ago.
The response from interested customers was swift, and more than 6,000 masks are now being mailed out. Another 6,000 are in production, with more on the way, and he asks that people be patient. Already, he has received thousands of email requests for more masks when they become available.
“It’s been overwhelming, and the the response is wonderful,” he said. “Now we’re furiously working to get these out.”
Initially, he withheld from making them because health care workers needed N95 respirators as personal protective equipment, not fabric masks.
Once officials recommended the public wear fabric masks when going out, the story changed.
Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell earlier this month urged all Oahu residents to wear cloth face masks. Doing so, he said, could prevent the spread of the new coronavirus by those who are asymptomatic, and keep people from touching their faces.
Days later, the CDC urged all Americans to wear a mask when leaving their homes.
“At that point, we looked at ourselves and said, how could we not do this?” Feldman said. “We almost have a moral obligation to make masks, and we also have thousands of yards of the elastic.”
There is a shortage of elastic, globally, he said, but he had some, along with cutting machines. After having had to close all his retail stores and furlough nearly 200 employees, he brought back a small production crew to make patterns and cut fabric, and sent them to an army of local, professional sewers working at home.
He offered the masks, made from Tori Richard’s own stock of 100% cotton lawn fabric, in sets of four at no charge other than $1 in postage.
In a Facebook post, Feldman wrote: “It’s time to go big. Not just for us, but all of us. Together. So, in addition, we have made a critical decision. We will NOT be selling these masks. The cost to make them is very low and we certainly have plenty of fabric on hand. It just didn’t feel right to us to charge for these.”
For others, sales of fabric face masks is a way to provide jobs and keep up donations to front line workers.
Jams World, which started offering face masks in early March after closing its retail stores, has been swamped with orders. Earlier requests had been coming in from California, where leaders recommended that people wear masks, and now local demand has jumped, according to Lei Rowan, retail and marketing director.
For every mask sold, Jams World is able to donate masks to hospitals including Kapiolani Center for Women and Children, Kaiser Permanente and Kuakini Medical Center.
Carissa Sugita and Ashley Benn had just launched the Akira Collection, a fashion bikini line, in February.
Then the coronavirus pandemic hit, and the Hawaii Baptist Academy graduates pivoted to making face masks. Like many other small businesses, they are selling masks in order to donate them to local health care workers, including at Navian, a hospice service provider.
“Right now, we have an opportunity to help our community and that is really all we are focused on,” said Sugita. “This is a deep-rooted tradition in Hawaii, and so we feel this is in line with our brand.”
Sugita said she fields requests for up to 100 at a time, and estimates the team has donated more than 1,500, so far.
For Summer Shiigi, founder and owner of Ten Tomorrow, a modern resort brand, the official CDC and mayoral recommendations have brought a new sense of purpose.
She had temporarily closed her Kaimuki store and shut down production when the stay-at-home order went into effect. She and others had already been sewing masks to donate to health care centers, and then began seeing demand from customers.
On Friday evening, Shiigi launched Ten Tomorrow’s line of 100% cotton canvas masks embroidered with positive messages such as “good vibes only” online. They sold out within 20 minutes.
Each one sold will help the company retain its production staff and keep up its donations, she said.
“It broke my heart to stop production, and this is our way to support the manufacturing pipeline,” she said. “I’m passionate about this being good for the community as a whole, supporting manufacturing in Hawaii, and doing good all around.”


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SRCC students help potters amid lockdown
Like most businesses across the globe, potters, too, have been hit hard by the lockdown. And with their savings getting exhausted, an initiative run by DU students that aims at generating business for them came as a ray of hope in their lives.
“Given the fact that their income has dried up, we decided to invest in social media marketing with the plan to take pre-orders and provide an immediate source of income to the potters,” says Rohan Kohli, a student of Shri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC).
Based on digital marketing and contactless payments, the initiative is a brainchild of SRCC’s Rivaayat society, and the students plan to deliver the orders by June end. “We are collecting pre-orders through e-commerce and online sources such as Instagram and Facebook, and have listed the products on more than 15 e-commerce platforms. Payments are being made online,” says Tania Agarwal, another member of Rivaayat.
Delighted to have the support of these kids, Ganga Sahay Prajapat, a potter from Alwar, Rajasthan, says, “Bachche is time par humare baare main soch rahe hain, isse badh kar kya ho sakta hai.” And Gajraj Singh, a potter from Palwal, Haryana, adds, “Abhi yeh bachhe hi humara sahara hain. Inka main shukraguzaar hun.”
DU students are helping potters from across Delhi, Haryana and Rajasthan


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RESIDENTS are being warned about a new UK cash voucher scam which has already targeted several people in the borough.
Fraudulent telemarketers are making unsolicited phone calls to consumers promising them ready cash in a lottery, sweepstake or even an insurance refund.
The fraudsters often pretend to be bank officials, working for a government body, or lottery representatives, and try to convince consumers that their prize is genuine.
To ‘release’ their winnings, victims are told they must pay an upfront fee using a UK cash voucher to allow the transaction to take place.
Using their postcode, they are then informed of where they can locally purchase a voucher, and after supplying the voucher’s serial number to the cold caller, the victims are promised personal delivery of a cheque.
But once the scammer has the serial number, they are never heard from again.
North Tyneside Council’s trading standards team is now warning people to be on their guard.
Coun George Westwater, cabinet member for regulatory services, said: “This is a new scam which often targets vulnerable residents.
“In some cases elderly victims have been cheated out of hundreds of pounds as these cold callers can be so convincing with their stories.
“It’s important that everyone is sceptical about any unsolicited offers, refunds or prizes, if it seems too good to be true, then it probably is.
“A genuine government body or lottery operator would never ask someone to pay taxes, insurance or any other fee before receiving their ‘winnings’.”
Advice from Trading Standards is never send voucher codes to anyone asking for an upfront fee.
Anyone who receives a call about an offer that sounds too good to be true should contact Trading Standards via Consumer Direct on 08454 040506.


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Editor’s Note: Several months ago we published an excerpted interview with Kaiwei Tang, who, at the time, was days away from delivering a keynote on human-centered design at Forrester’s CX event. His approach to design has been noticed and amplified by his own efforts and from his involvement with Google. I encourage you to go back and read it for further context and breadth on this topic.
Philadelphia soul troupe The Stylistics released their sagacious anthem People Make the World Go Round in 1972. Almost five decades later, entrepreneurs, startup owners and corporate leaders alike are singing a similar tune. They realise the rising torrent of customer data has elevated the need for human-centred design to a business-critical level in the digital age.
Every dollar spent on user experience (UX) returns between $2 and $100, supposedly. A recent Forrester Research report bolsters this vague, oft-quoted statement. The study estimates that a carefully considered, seamless UX design has the potential to increase customer-conversion rates up to 400 per cent. It’s clear people matter more than ever for organisations, large and small.
“Taking a human-centred approach means going a step beyond being user or customer centred,” explains Emilie Colker, managing director of IDEO, a global design firm. “It means continuously studying the person you are influencing or engaging with as a whole, looking beyond what the data shows, and what people say and do, but also at what they think and feel.”
The rewards of embracing human-centred design are manifold, says Ms Colker. “Companies that take this approach, both internally with their team, and externally with their customers and influencers, see benefits on both the top and bottom line,” she says.
Businesses exist to provide value for customers and without the value, there’s no business. Putting people first is a business imperative
“From a revenue and market-share perspective, these companies tend to dominate in their category, due to greater differentiation and stronger brand loyalty. And internally, as pointed out by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development last year, their workforces are usually more purpose driven and engaged, and therefore perform better.”
Human building blocks
Lesley Gulliver, managing director of brand consultancy Engine Room and a board director of the Design Business Association, goes further and argues that human-centred design “should be a pillar of every business strategy”.
She says: “It needs to be embedded in your organisational culture. However, it is only one pillar; human-centred design is not going to solve all problems and therefore must be used as a key element in a wider strategic approach.”
Indeed, if human-centred design is a central pillar for a successful business, the building blocks are chiselled from good-quality customer data, the gathering of which is now crucial to propel a product or service from concept to launch, and beyond.
Monzo, founded in 2015, is a prime example of how startups can disrupt markets, improve brand experience and catalyse transformational innovations through customer data. The challenger bank’s extensive market research made clear that chequebooks, branches and call centres are no longer necessary in the smartphone era. Monzo’s app has obliterated the traditional banking mould.
“Monzo offers so much more than a bank weighed down with legacy IT challenges, an inability to innovate and a failure to wrap products around customers’ needs,” says Rebecca Crook, chief growth officer at digital product agency Somo. “The company has the vision to become an intelligence hub for your entire financial life.”
By harvesting customer data and adhering to human-centred design principles, Monzo’s ambition to be the best in the business, lofty to some, may be within reach. “A lot of companies keep their product plans quiet, but Monzo has embraced consumer feedback, publishing its roadmap each quarter and allowing users to vote on both functionality and features,” says Ms Crook. “They are taking designing for the user to the next level.”
Alex Jones, group director of design and innovation agency Fjord, predicts the growing trend for consumer centricity will become more important, but nuanced, in the coming years for organisations seeking to future-proof themselves. He says: “For 2020 and beyond, we will witness ‘human-centred’ design shift to something bigger: a ‘life-centred’ approach that benefits the collective, not just the individual.
“Businesses will need to look at what’s in it for the consumer as well as their collective cause across the political spectrum, such as sustainable living or taking sides in a trade war. Increasingly, they must align with wider attitudes if they’re to appeal to the next generation of consumers.”
Dr Noorzaman Rashid, chief executive of the Chartered Institute of Ergonomics and Human Factors, believes human-centred design will become even more essential in a decade or two. “In the next ten to twenty years, as neural systems and technologies are advancing exponentially, autonomous cars and aeroplanes, for instance, will become a reality,” he says.
“The challenge for designers is taking into consideration how humans will behave and interact with these vehicles and the robots that are being designed to provide company to the increasing house-bound ageing population.”
Dr Rashid adds that anthropomorphism – the attribution of human traits, emotions or intentions to non-human entities – is a subject designers will need to study more. He also encourages greater collaboration and inclusivity, so designers, developers and UX researchers don’t suffer false-consensus bias, whereby they assume others share their beliefs and behaviours.
Customer data, though, must continue to drive innovation, according to Loredana Crisan, director of product design at Facebook Messenger. “Businesses exist to provide value for customers and without the value, there’s no business,” she says. “Putting people first isn’t a high-ground moral choice, it’s a business imperative since it’s practically impossible to reverse-engineer new value for people when starting with anything other than a human insight.”
Offering a final spur to creativity, Ms Crisan adds: “Today, most services solving obvious people needs have been commoditised. A business must ground its product in deeper insights about people’s lives – the context and barriers someone might face when trying to accomplish a goal – to offer new value.”
The Stylistics were right: people do make the world go round.


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Call it iPhone independence: A new study from Viacom’s global consumer insights division has found that preschoolers are becoming increasingly self-sufficient, largely due to a slight decrease in helicopter parenting and a rise in learning through mobile devices and technology.
Little Big Kids: Preschoolers Ready For Life, officially presented by Viacom’s global consumer insights SVP, Christian Kurz, at Kidscreen Summit in Miami today, surveyed 6,500 families of preschoolers ages two to five across 12 countries—the US, the UK, Australia, Brazil, Germany, Mexico, Russia, the Philippines, South Africa, Poland, Sweden and the Netherlands.
Insights were gathered through a number of methods including digital diaries, an online survey, in-home ethnographies and a GoPro point-of-view experiment where preschoolers were outfitted with cameras to capture their daily play, exploration and learning patterns.
The biggest takeaway from the research, according to Kurz, is a movement slightly away from a more sheltered style of parenting to an ideology wherein parents prepare preschoolers for life in an uncertain world. This is accomplished, in many cases, by exposing kids to a variety of experiences.
“Parents don’t know what they’re preparing their kids for, but they need tools to help them cope with whatever life may throw their way. And helicopter parenting isn’t necessarily seen as the best way to do this anymore,” says Kurz. “Instead, what we’re seeing is parents are getting their kids ready for life through experiences and controlled risk taking.”
The study found that 75% of parents believe children should learn through their own experiences, while 68% think one of the most important developmental opportunities for preschoolers is learning to do things for themselves.
In fact, 70% of parents say they always listen to their child’s opinion before making decisions that affect them, like what’s for dinner or whether the family moves to a different city.
“Additionally, the top two reasons parents send their two- to five-year-olds to preschool are centered on peer-to-peer development,” says Kurz. “And within this, learning through play is still very much prioritized. In fact, 72% of parents say they believe their preschoolers learn best through play. The same percentage believes that learning through play is even more important than traditional learning at this age.”
As for the impact of technology on today’s preschoolers, the research found that 64% of parents agree it’s important for their kids to keep up with tech developments.
“This is particularly relevant…because three quarters of the jobs that today’s preschoolers are going to be working in do not yet exist,” says Kurz.
Looking at mobile device access and usage, 65% of preschoolers have access to a tablet, with which they interact an average of 1.3 hours per day.
Globally, preschoolers spend about 14 hours per week on devices, although time spent varies dramatically by region. For instance, the US has the highest per week usage at 25 hours, while Germany posts the lowest at six hours.
However, while parents are accepting of their kids’ technological needs, 61% worry about their children coming across inappropriate content online, and 53% believe that too much time spent on devices can interfere with learning and development.
Nearly 80%, in fact, say they limit the amount of time their child spends on devices.
“Overall, though, the perceived benefit of technology outweighs these concerns, with 52% of parents saying their kids use tablets for educational content—a number that rises to 67% in the Philippines,” says Kurz.
“One of the mothers of one of the preschoolers we met there was incredibly proud because her daughter learned how to count to 10 and learned her ABCs in both Filipino and English from her tablet.”
According to the study, 61% of parents think technology is making their kids smarter.
More information about Little Big Kids and Viacom Insights can be found here.


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U.S. officials, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, have accused Iran of orchestrating devastating strikes on Saudi oil installations over the weekend.Politicsread more
"The president is right to make this the center point of the rising and sustained trade conflict," says Sen. Chris Coons.Politicsread more
"We're gonna take this meeting by meeting. We're not on a preset course," Clarida told CNBC's Sara Eisen during an interview Friday on "Squawk on the Street."The Fedread more
More than 400 Chinese products will be temporarily exempted from tariffs that President Donald Trump's administration imposed last year.China Economyread more
Netflix CEO Reed Hastings admitted that it's a "whole new world starting in November," with the launch of Apple TV+, Disney+ and other new streaming services.Technologyread more
President Donald Trump sarcastically tweeted that New York City "is devastated" by Mayor Bill de Blasio's exit from the 2020 presidential race. Two other Democratic mayors,...2020 Electionsread more
The United Auto Workers union and General Motors are making progress on their labor contract talks, however there remain "many" outstanding issues, according to a union leader...Autosread more
Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren has been given more than one opportunity over the past two weeks to clarify her response to a key question about her...Politicsread more
Apple will get a taste of whether upgraded features on the new iPhone 11 are enough to lure shoppers to retail stores around the world as the new smartphones officially hit...Technologyread more
James Bullard said he dissented on this week's Fed decision to lower rates by a quarter percentage point because he didn't think the cut was big enough.The Fedread more
Joshua Harris, Apollo Global Management's co-founder, has a message for private equity's naysayers in Washington.Delivering Alpharead more
Sears Chairman Eddie Lampert is working on a higher bid to keep Sears alive, a person familiar with the situation told CNBC.
The bid, though, is not yet finalized and submitted, the person said. When it is, Lampert will be required to publicly file it with federal regulators.
Bloomberg first reported Wednesday afternoon on Lampert's latest efforts to keep Sears alive.
Sears, which also owns Kmart stores, filed for bankruptcy on Oct. 15. If Lampert is unable to cobble together an offer to buy the company out of bankruptcy, it will be pushed into liquidation.
This latest attempt comes one day after Lampert's initial $4.4 billion bid to save Sears was rejected by the company. It faced a number of challenges, including being short of covering Sears' administrative expenses, making it "administratively insolvent." It also relied on $1.8 billion of debt owed to Lampert's hedge fund, ESL Investments, a move that Sears' unsecured creditors objected to.
On Tuesday, though, a bankruptcy judge gave Lampert more time to improve his offer. The judge said ESL would be required to pay a $120 million deposit by 4 p.m. Wednesday. Sears will then hold an auction on Jan. 14, when it will compare Lampert's offer against others by liquidators. Once a bid is accepted, it would still need to be approved by the bankruptcy court.
The structure and size of Lampert's new bid could not be immediately determined. It also wasn't known whether it addressed the original offer's shortcomings. The person speaking to CNBC requested anonymity because the talks were confidential.
A spokesperson for ESL referred CNBC to a statement made Tuesday about Lampert's efforts to keep Sears alive.
"ESL appreciates the encouragement from the court and the constructive engagement of the debtors as we work to formalize our going concern proposal so that it can be evaluated at the upcoming auction. As we have said before, our proposal provides substantially more value to stakeholders than would be the case in liquidation and is the only option to save an iconic American retailer and up to 50,000 jobs. We believe in Sears and will continue to do everything we can to ensure that it has a profitable future," it read.
Sears declined to comment.
— CNBC's Lauren Thomas contributed to this reporting.


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GTA Online's Flight School Update has been released on Xbox 360 and PS3. The new content can be downloaded through automatic update 1.16 on both consoles.
GTA Online doesn't have co-op heists yet but gamers keep finding more and more pieces of them in the game's files. The latest discovery is a set of animations that give us some information on the types of heists players will undertake.
GTA 5 players have used the sandbox game to remake the introduction from HBO gangster series The Sopranos. The shot-for-shot remake is well worth a watch.
Rockstar Games wants you to celebrate the Fourth of July weekend in GTA Online. They're launching a special event today in celebration of the holiday and the release of the Independence Day Special DLC that arrived earlier this week.
Last year's report that Lindsay Lohan planned to sue GTA 5 studio Rockstar Games turned out to be true. Today she filed a lawsuit against Rockstar in a Manhattan court.
There was a lot of fan excitement when Rockstar announced the PS4 and Xbox One versions of GTA 5 during E3 2014. However, research firm Cowen and Company believes that pre-orders have slowed down.
GTA Online players expressed their love for the eighties in a creative way this week. They've reenacted a chase scene from the opening act of Back to the Future.
Rockstar Games unexpectedly release Title Update 1.14 for GTA 5 today. The update, dubbed "I'm Not A Hipster," provides a range of new content for multiplayer component GTA Online.
If you've missed out on the most recent chapters of Grand Theft Auto, you can now get them at a steep discount. Digital copies of GTA 5 and GTA 4 have been marked down for the weekend on Xbox 360.
Steam's listing for the PC version of GTA 5 has gone live. The game was greeted by Steam users in the traditional fashion: with trolling.
GTA 5's upcoming PS4, Xbox One and PC versions will enhance the visuals of last-gen editions. A new comparison video shows just how big the upgrade will be.
Sony confirmed at their E3 2014 press conference tonight that GTA 5 is coming to the PS4. Rockstar followed up on that announcement with a trailer confirming Xbox One and PC versions as well.
The crew that tried to fly airplanes through the "D" in GTA Online's Vinewood sign is back with another video. This time, they tried to sky-dive through the sign.
Rockstar Games has a new game for new-generation consoles coming out within the next year. There's only one good guess at what this project could be: the PS4 and Xbox One version of Grand Theft Auto 5.
GTA Online's next major DLC pack, the High Life Update, finally has a release date. Rockstar Games announced today that the add-on will arrive next week on PS3 and Xbox 360.


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AirAsia Teleport uses blockchain to optimize cargo management costs
AirAsia Teleport, the logistics division of Asia’s largest airline, has launched the blockchain platform called Freightchain to speed up and simplify the air cargo confirmation and tracking process. With Freightchain, shippers and freight forwarders will be able to book and confirm the use of any one of AirAsia’s 247 aircraft for cargo transportation, without the need for intermediaries.
Blockchain will help track orders and sales, as well as automatically identify connected networks for cargo delivery.
Freightchain will help connect global freight forwarding firms, eliminating middlemen and agency fees. The Blockchain offers intelligent digital channels for booking cargo space in addition to increasing cargo capacity. Freightchain’s Technical Director Vishal Batra commented on the development.
“We deliberately launched Freightchain during this period of uncertainty within global supply chains, caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Agile software platforms like Freightchain help to connect uneven supply and demand amidst a rapidly evolving environment. Trust and transparency are needed now more than ever.”
According to Batra Freightchain can simplify the process of booking cargo space by providing almost 10 times faster confirmation than traditional methods thanks to “software discovery” of routes using data from the blockchain architecture.
Earn ETH with our fair crypto lotto Ethex.bet!


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After a two year pause, Herbstalk is back! We are overjoyed to gather together again at our holiday event.
The Wintergreen Herbal Market is taking place on Friday, November 24th at the Center for the Arts at the Armory in Somerville, MA.
The lively marketplace features handmade herbal products and botanical goods created by New England crafters.
The event will also host an array of free educational talks related to herbalism and holistic well-being, as well as BIPOC led classes and art exhibitions.
Join our gathering of plant-loving people who celebrate the joy of community!
APPLY TO BE A VENDOR HERE
APPLY TO BE A SPEAKER HERE
PARTICIPATE IN THE BIPOC LED SPACE
* Applications close on October 11th*


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Samsung will unveil its new flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S8, at a special event in New York on March 29. Following the fiasco surrounding the Galaxy Note 7’s faulty batteries, the company has a lot riding on the Galaxy S8. In order to gain back consumer trust, the Korean electronics giant needs the launch of its next flagship device to go flawless, which is probably why the presentation was pushed back to late March.
Making up for the Galaxy Note debacle isn’t the only reason why the Galaxy S8 better be a hit: as our chart illustrates, Samsung has fallen behind Apple
in terms of mobile device sales recently. The company may still lead the smartphone market
in terms of unit sales, but in terms of revenue, the iPhone alone beats Samsung’s entire mobile communications unit by more than 70 percent.


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4 World of Variety stores officially to close after 47 years
FENNIMORE, Wis. — Four World of Variety stores in southwestern Wisconsin are officially closing Friday.
News 3 first reported in September that the stores in Fennimore, Boscobel, Mt. Horeb and Cross Plains would be closing.
The store’s owners posted on Facebook that Friday was the last day the stores would be open after 47 years.
“Thank you to our staff, customers and vendors for allowing us to live our dream by serving Fennimore, Mt Horeb, Boscobel, Cross Plains, Verona, Darlington and their surrounding communities. Special thanks to Dick and Judy Mudler for their foresight in getting this journey started and Alice Mudler for helping to see it thru until the end. We look forward to seeing what the future will bring.”
Back in September, the store’s social media posts went viral, and customers filled the stores.
“It’s been phenomenal. I had no idea we’d get this kind of a reaction,” owner Mike Mudler told News 3 in September.
Mudler’s parents bought the original store in 1973, and he and his wife bought the store from his parents in 1996.
At one point, World of Variety had six locations, with the other two in Verona and Darlington.
Get your weather forecast from people who actually live in your community. We update with short, easy-to-use video forecasts you can watch on your phone every day. Download the iOS or Android app here.
COPYRIGHT 2020 BY CHANNEL 3000. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THIS MATERIAL MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED, BROADCAST, REWRITTEN OR REDISTRIBUTED.


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March 21, 2017
Brazil President attempts to pacify uproar over tainted food scandal
In the wake of a scandal involving the alleged bribery of Brazilian health officials to pass off tainted food as safe for consumption, Brazil tried to reassure the world that its huge meat industry poses no threat, AFP reports.
President Michel Temer even invited diplomats to a traditional Brazilian meat restaurant called a churrascaria, saying: "If you accept the invitation, we will be very happy". Nineteen of the 33 envoys who met with him accepted the offer.
But Temer had the serious mission of calming a scandal threatening the reputation of the world's biggest beef and poultry exporting nation.
The scare started on March 17 when police said a two-year probe had found major meat producers bribed health inspectors to certify tainted food as fit for consumption.
At least 30 people have been arrested, with police raiding more than a dozen processing plants and issuing 27 arrest warrants. A poultry-processing plant run by the multinational BRF group and two meat-processing plants operated by the local Peccin company were shut down, the Agriculture Ministry said.
Brazilian meat is exported to more than 150 countries, with principal markets as far apart as Saudi Arabia, China, Singapore, Japan, Russia, the Netherlands and Italy. Sales in 2016 reached US$5.9 billion in poultry and US$4.3 billion in beef, according to Brazilian government data.
In his address to the ambassadors, Temer acknowledged that the scandal had generated "major concern". But he insisted that the bad meat and faked certificates occurred in only "a very few businesses" and did not represent a wider problem.
inspection system "one of the most respected" in the world, Temer said: "I want to reiterate our confidence in the quality of our products."
In 2016, 853,000 consignments of animal products were exported, Temer said, yet "just 184 of them were deemed by importers to be in violation".
Earlier, Luis Eduardo Pacifici Rangel, secretary of agricultural protection, told reporters that there was "no risk for population, neither for exports."
Meat processor BRF also went on the counter-offensive, taking aim at allegations that cardboard was mixed into chicken products.
"There is no cardboard of any kind in BRF products. There's been a big misunderstanding in the (audio) recordings of the police," the company said in a statement.
There have been no reports of people made sick as a result of the alleged practices. However, Brazil is worried the scandal will hurt attempts to negotiate a trade deal between South America's Mercosur group with the EU.
The EU ambassador to Brazil, Joao Cravinho, tweeted over the weekend that he wanted "complete, urgent clarifications from the agriculture ministry".
"It really complicates negotiations," admitted Brazilian under secretary general for economic and financial affairs at the foreign ministry, Carlos Marcio Cozendey. He urged that any response to the crisis be "proportionate". "I hope that this is not used to unjustifiably close markets," he said.
The authorities have not yet detailed where tainted products were found, but say that in some cases, carcinogenic substances were used to mask the smell of bad meat.
In addition to the giant BRF firm, which owns the Sadia and Perdigao brands, companies under investigation include JBS, a world leader in meat sales and owner of the Big Frango, Seara Alimentos and Swift brands.
JBS took out a full-page ad in the newspaper O Globo to say that the federal office conducting the investigation had made no mention of health problems stemming from JBS products. The BRF group is running similar ads, saying its products pose no health risk "whatsoever".
An ad in which actor Robert De Niro testifies to the quality of JBS's Seara ham - with its "authentic Italian flavor" - has gotten heavy play on Brazilian television.


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Islamophobia is certainly at the zenith with fruit and vegetable vendors from the minority community being threatened and members of the minority being seen as conspirators who have designed some sort of a plan to infect the whole of India with coronavirus.
The recent and shocking news of a bakery owner in Chennai being blatantly ‘anti-muslim’ is doing the rounds on social media and is a throughly painful depiction of anti-muslim sentiments that are being fanned even despite the hardships that the nation as a collective is facing.
A 32 year old bakery owner in Chennai has been arrested on the charge of outraging people’s religious sentiments by his actions. The owner runs a unit called Jain Bakeries and Confectionaries in Chennai and he is being condemned for an advertisement of his products that he had been circulating on WhatsApp. The advertisement campaign read, “Made by Jains on Order, No Muslim Staff.”
A case has been registered suo moto by the police and the bakery owner has been booked for depicting muslims in bad light. The advertisement that was circulating on WhatsApp was meant to allure Muslim customers from the Jain community in the locality.
A strong protest emerged from a section of customers who felt that the advertisement was outrageous and propelled by anti-Muslim sentiment. The bakery owners in the Jain locality said that although such an advertisement was condemnable, they argued that shop owners had to do such things to retain their customer base amid the coronavirus. The police has registered a case against the owner for his deliberate and malicious act intended to outrage religious feelings and intentionally cause insult to a particular community.


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Intel shows progress in the strategically important mobile chips market.
Fujifilm showed off its old-school Instax Mini 8 and the powerful new X100S and X20 cameras today at CES.
Looks like Chinese telecommunications manufacturer Huawei is getting slammed again. Now it’s Los Alamos National Laboratory, the facility that is in charge of maintaining the United States’s arsenal of nuclear weapons, that has apparently tossed out Huawei network switches.
Netflix has signed a new deal with Warner Bros. that will bring a slew relatively current television shows exclusively to the streaming video service, the company announced today.
This isn’t about porn or adult content. The military is blocking access to sites about health, legal rights, bullying, and even suicide prevention.
The money isn’t the issue; it’s the principle at stake — and Facebook said it’s going to fight back this time.
In an attempt to add more retail customers to its domain registrar, Demand Media purchased Name.com for an undisclosed amount.
Editor’s Pick Endgame: Syria is a strategy game based on the real war in that country.
WIth its two newest 3D printers, 3D Systems is pushing 3D printing technology a bit further.
Infusionsoft raises a whopping $54 million for its custom, all-in-one sales and marketing automation software.
Finally, Fitbit has an activity tracking wristband of its own.
Toshiba has debuted a new, stunning 84-inch television that will challenge Sony and LG in the high-end 4K TV market.
While the rise in set-top boxes is usually viewed as a sign that people are cutting their cable TV subscriptions in favor of streaming video, that may soon change.
Nvidia launches a console that can be played both as a mobile device and living room console.
Who needs a rechargeable battery when you’ve got portable fuel cells?
Skype calls use 256-bit advanced encryption by default, but that’s not secure enough for some people. So a prof at the Warsaw University of Technology has created a way to communicate even more privately on Skype — by using silence.
This BodyMedia Core 2 tracker looks fashionable and has four health sensors.
Still, the rate of growth is better than the 1 percent drop in sales in 2012.
Lenovo tries to jumpstart a new kind of gaming in the home with a giant tabletop PC.
Guest Post I started my user experience education in a very different way than most.
Guest Post Investment Bankers have traditionally been the gatekeepers of access to the capital markets. It is time for crowdfunding to play a greater role.
Bring comfortable shoes and travel light as you make your way to the biggest U.S. tech trade show.
Vizio’s new Windows 8 tablet looks pretty killer.
Editor’s Pick The consummate entrepreneur, and the successful writer: put the two together, and you’ve got someone who budding authors should listen to about what it means to write books in 2013. Especially … if you actually want to sell any.
Do video games inspire violence? Here’s what studying religious identity can tell us.
Guest Post Google is continually experimenting with new functionality, rolling it out broadly in a fully integrated fashion on a continuous basis, and providing it as a core part of an ever expanding thing that is getting more and more useful by the week.
When his solo project took off, star developer Sam Soffes had two choices: Go big or sell big.
How Uematsu’s compositions made me a game music fan.
“Stand aside, meatbags. Oil is thicker than blood.”
Want a prettier way to read Reddit? Check out this awesome app for mobile/tablet/web – and you’ll never guess who made it.
Many female characters get excluded from the game’s cover in favor of male protagonists. Did your favorite heroines make the cut?
THQ’s bid for a quick bankruptcy process isn’t turning out to be so quick.
It might be easier than you think to trick Facebook into believing an account should be put into a “memorial state.”
Google actually caught up with Apple in October — or got close enough that the distinction became academic — with 700,000 apps.
Sure, the iPhone 5 is a big part of Apple’s jump from 35.8 percent market share in the previous quarter, but it’s not the only part.
Hulu’s longtime chief exec Jason Kilar announced his resignation from the company he help build into a web TV powerhouse over five years ago.
Guest Post It’s important to understand how EdgeRank works before passing judgment or sparking fruitless debates.
indows notebook sales were down 11 percent while MacBook sales were down 6 percent during the holiday season.
Scoring a Wii U lower than retail price with a few extra games sounds like a Black Friday sale. That’s not the case if reports are true.
You might think these all-metal earbuds and headphones are overkill, but the fools will tear ya down, steal your face, and leave you smiling like a killer.


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- In-app purchases return to Amazon’s Prime Video app
In-app purchases return to Amazon’s Prime Video app
Next up: The Kindle app, maybe?
Some news from the someone-must-have-struck-a-deal department: Amazon is once again allowing users of its Prime Video app to directly purchase VOD rentals and other items on Android devices. The company notified Prime Video subscribers of the change via email in recent days, writing:
“In-app purchasing is now available on all Android mobile and Android-powered video streaming devices. Simply go to the Prime Video app on your mobile device and find the movie, TV show, or channel subscription you want to purchase. Rent, buy, or subscribe directly from your device, and you're ready to start streaming instantly.”
Amazon removed in-app purchases for digital goods and services from its Android apps last year to avoid having to fork over 30% of those fees to Google. The fact that those purchases are back suggests that the two companies may have come to some kind of commercial agreement that makes in-app-purchases once again viable for Amazon.
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There’s no word on if and when in-app purchases may return to the Kindle app for Android, which also disabled them last year. (Amazon’s PR department didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.)
The decision to bring in-app purchases back to the Prime Video app for Android is just the latest example for a recent thawing of relations between Amazon and Google. The two companies resolved their differences over Amazon’s use of a forked version of Android for its Fire TV devices last year, and Google recently abandoned a long-standing policy of not allowing its Google Assistant and Alexa to run on smart speakers simultaneously.
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All mobile phone users in China registering new SIM cards must submit to facial recognition scans, according to a new rule that went into effect across the country on Sunday.
The guidelines, first issued in September, require telecoms companies to deploy “artificial intelligence and other technical methods” to check the identities of people registering SIM cards. All physical stores in the country have had until 1 December to begin implementing the new standards.
The measure, described by the ministry of industry and information as a way to “protect the legitimate rights and interest of citizens in cyberspace”, makes Chinese mobile phone and internet users easier to track.
Already, mobile phone users are required to register SIM cards with their identity cards or passports and many telecoms had begun scanning customers’ faces since last year. Many social media platforms also require users to sign up with their “real-name identities” via their phone numbers.
The expansion of the use of facial recognition in China, from middle schools to concert venues and public transport, has begun raising concerns about information security and consent.
In November, a professor filed what is believed to be the country’s first lawsuit against the use of facial recognition. Guo Bing, a professor at Zhejiang Sci-Tech University alleged that a safari park in Hangzhou violated the country’s consumer rights protection law by scanning his face and taking his personal data without his consent.
China’s education ministry said in September it would “curb and regulate” the use of facial recognition after parents grew angry when facial recognition software was installed without their knowledge at a university in Nanjing to monitor students’ attendance and focus during class.
Experts also caution that China lacks regulation on how facial recognition can be used. More than two dozen Chinese technology companies have begun drafting national standards for the industry.
Human rights advocates described the measure as another step toward “dystopian surveillance state”, in which Chinese cities will more closely resemble the Xinjiang region, where citizens are constantly monitored for signs of unrest or dissent.
The ministry has said the rule will protect citizens from phone scams and prevent the reselling of SIM cards as part of cybersecurity and antiterrorism campaigns.
On the microblog Weibo, many internet users were supportive of the move, with one writing: “As someone who has had their identity stolen, I feel relieved.” Another said: “Even though this is coming too late, I support it.”
But others were not confident the new rule would strengthen information security. One user wrote: “If privacy laws are not sound … then you really do not have the right to require more and more personal information from the people. We just want to live in a society where our information is safe. Why is it so difficult?”
In response to mobile phone users submitting to face scans, one commentator said: “I will not. My number has already been sold and now my face will be too? Another said: “Please leave us with some privacy.”
“There is not even a little space for freedom. Everything is controlled. You cannot say what you want or choose what you want,” another said.
Lillian Yang contributed additional reporting


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Republic police have one person in custody after a bomb threat to the community’s Walmart.
The store was evacuated after the threat was made to the store per Walmart policy. Police searched the store and did not find a bomb.
Customers and employees were allowed back into the store after 2 p.m..
A suspect has been taken into custody but Republic officials have not released the suspect’s name. No charges have been filed as of Tuesday afternoon.


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Today, companies lose 62 billion dollars a year due to poor customer service; in 2013, the loss was only 20 billion dollars, according to data from a NewVoiceMedia survey in 2016.
Unfortunately, most companies still face serious difficulties in organizing and analyzing the increasing volume of data they collect about customers and this makes it more difficult to really know them and offer them a personalized experience.
Customer dissatisfaction is growing
Back in 2015, an Accenture survey highlighted that about two-thirds of users had changed their brand buying preferences due to inadequate customer service. This trend is confirmed by the data of a recent international survey commissioned by Talend, which involved consumers and corporate IT managers, highlighting the significant gap between customer expectations and what is actually offered by companies. In fact, 49% of respondents said they had changed company precisely because of the inefficiency of customer service; furthermore almost 70% of these had done it more than once and on more than one occasion due to numerous customer service shortcomings. Fifty percent of respondents stated that the main reason for “breaking” with a brand was the lack of attention in properly handling a negative review or statement, for example by sending the same user offers for products similar to the one that had been criticized. But the other causes most cited by consumers as having led to disaffection also include computer attacks on the company resulting in breach of data (53%) and lack of real-time support and direct contact management (42%).
The consumer survey showed that online reviews have become the new “word of mouth” for many companies: 40% indicated that forums have the most impact on purchases of a certain importance, counting for almost twice the importance of advice from friends and relatives.
Data? Insufficiently appreciated
The study revealed that, despite the large amount of data available on customer behavior and buying choices, and in the face of significant investments, about 80% of companies in the sample indicated that IT budgets have grown over the past five years precisely in order to improve customer experience and customer relationship management (CRM). And while 88% of IT managers believed that their organization is able to interpret customer needs, only 61% of consumers believed that companies really understand their needs.
Although most companies recognize the importance of data in strategic management, too many companies are still not analyzing the impact that consumer-focused initiatives can have on increasing market share and boosting customer loyalty. Some time ago, Oracle’s Can Virtual Experiences Replace Reality? report had pointed out that over 60% of businesses did not include data collected from social interactions or CRM within their own customer analytics, whereas instead there would be a need for greater alignment among the marketing, sales and services sectors. Many companies do not systematically follow feedback from the customer base despite the considerable investment by IT managers in adopting customer support tools. Slightly less than 50% of Talend’s sample are implementing elementary parameters for measuring customer satisfaction such as online reviews (which are used only by 36%), sentiment analysis on social media (43%) and verification and analysis of post-purchase comments (50%).
What can companies do?
Overall, the survey suggests that there is still room for improvement by companies in more effective use of data in order to better understand and respond to customer needs. Sixty-three percent of the IT audience interviewed indicated the use of data to better understand customers as a priority, while for 80% of companies data use is ranked eighth on a 10-point scale.
IT companies recognize the importance of allowing access to customer data to a larger number of employees: 80% of the companies interviewed said they make customer data available to multiple business units. Because Big Data and cloud solutions improve customer acquisition and loyalty, they could become increasingly competitive assets. Companies should therefore leverage the optimization of customer and data management tools to keep pace with ever-evolving consumer needs in order to deliver high-level services and maintain a competitive edge.
2017 promises to be a year of major transformations in the world of e-commerce, where the biggest transformation is likely to be the one that will invest Customer Experience, in the relationship between businesses and consumers. If 2016 was the year of chatbots, 2017 will be the year of communication between the company and the customer that should lead to the collection of information that can improve the customer experience.
According to Forrester , investments in the field of Artificial Intelligence will triple in 2017: new conversational models will enable optimization interactions between users and systems capable of understanding natural language, with chatbots becoming less and less tools of support and more and more of guidance and advice for the consumer.
Will Big Data Analysis, AI and Machine Learning succeed in understanding customers better and making them more satisfied?


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The NEC will host a live demonstration of how silicone elastomers are used for TV prosthetics
Hall four of Birmingham’s NEC arena will take on a Hollywood feel during Interplas 2014, with a live demonstration highlighting how polymers play a part in some of TV and films’ biggest blockbusters.
On Wednesday, October 1st, polymer distributor, Biesterfeld Petroplas, will host partner company, PS Composites, to show visitors how prosthetics are created using various silicone elastomers from Dow Corning’s ‘Xiameter’ range. This will take place between the hours of 11am-2pm on stand E70.
Visitors heading to the Biesterfeld stand will be able to learn more about the company’s full range of polymers, from standard commodity polyolefin products from Borealis and CP Chem, to more specialist engineering materials, such as K-Resin SBC from CP Chem and Santoprene TPV’s from ExxonMobil.
The Biesterfeld UK sales team will be present over the three days of the show, alongside European Product Managers from Hamburg. Representatives from Borealis, Indorama, LG Chem and CP Chem will also be present. This additional support will provide the Biesterfeld stand with the technical expertise to answer all customer enquiries, says the company.
“Interplas is a great platform for the UK arm of Europe’s largest polymer distributor to showcase our world leading suppliers to the UK market,” commented Guy Payne, Managing Director, Biesterfeld Petroplas. “These include the likes of Borealis, CP Chem, LG Chem, ExxonMobil and DuPont.”
BIESTERFELD Petroplas – Stand E70


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(Mark Lennihan/Associated Press)
Rovi agrees to buy TiVo in $1.1 billion deal
Rovi, maker of electronic media guides, plans to buy DVR pioneer TiVo in a $1.1 billion cash-and-stock deal.
REVIEWS & TIPS
(Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)
Wolverton: Newer, smaller iPad Pro great
With the new 9.7-inch iPad Pro, Apple's taken all the cool features it built into the jumbo-sized model it released last fall, shoehorned them into a more practically sized package and added some cool extras like a powerful camera. The result is a great gadget.
(Adam Berry / Getty Images)
A rare interview with Priscilla Chan
Priscilla Chan, married to Facebook CEO and co-founder Mark Zuckerberg, wants to improve the lives of some of the Bay Area's most disadvantaged children by linking health care and education. The hands-on work is already starting at a new East Palo Alto school.
( T. Charles Erickson )
Review: 'Satchmo' goes behind Louis Armstrong's happy facade
The solo show 'Satchmo' by Terry Teachout depicts jazz legend Louis Armstrong reflecting on his bittersweet life and music; it plays at American Conservatory Theater through Feb. 7
(Photo by Matt Sayles/Invision/AP, File)
Prince used multiple doctors to get painkillers, says report
Prince used more than one doctor to get drugs, including a 'personal friend,’ according to report.


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Players will be able to play as Captain Jack Sparrow, Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann as they explore and brawl across land and sea on a memorable quest in search of the legendary Dead Man's Chest. The game features thrilling moments from the movie and expands the fantasy of the franchise by offering exciting new adventures and locations inspired by the rich "Pirates of the Caribbean" universe.
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Spain's Grifols reports fivefold increase in 2012 profit
MADRID Feb 28 (Reuters) - Spanish pharmaceutical company Grifols reported a more than fivefold rise in full-year profit for 2012 to 257 million euros ($336.90 million), buoyed by its acquisition of U.S. firm Talecris last June and its wide geographic presence outside its depressed home market.
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British Judge: Samsung Tab Design 'Not As Cool' As iPad
Judge ruled that the Samsung Galaxy Tab doesn't infringe on Apple's design patents because it isn't as 'cool' as the iPad.
The judge agreed that the two are in the same family of devices, but only when looked at head-on. When viewed from either the side or the back, the differences between the Galaxy Tab and the iPad are enough to suggest that Apple's design language wasn't copied.
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"They do not have the same understated and extreme simplicity which is possessed by the Apple design. They are not as cool," said Judge Birss in his ruling. "The overall impression produced is different."
[ For more on the Samsung-Apple dispute, see Samsung Enjoined From Selling Galaxy Tab 10.1 In U.S. ]
Judge Birss's words no doubt have left their own impression on Samsung's tablet design team. For the judge to call them out as "not cool" could mean the people behind the Galaxy Tab will soon be out of a job, if they aren't already. Cache can be important when it comes to hardware design. Tablets and phones that don't look good may not sell as well as their slimmer, sexier peers, but I personally don't think there's anything wrong with Samsung's design. You can only do so much with the tablet/phone form factor, after all.
Samsung was obviously pleased with the judge's decision, despite the insult to the Galaxy Tab's design. "Should Apple continue to make excessive legal claims in other countries based on such generic designs, innovation in the industry could be harmed and consumer choice unduly limited," the company said in a statement.
For its part, Apple didn't offer new comments regarding the matter, but pointed to statements it has made earlier about Samsung's devices.
"It's no coincidence that Samsung's latest products look a lot like the iPhone and iPad, from the shape of the hardware to the user interface and even the packaging," the company said in legal filings made earlier this year. "This kind of blatant copying is wrong and, as we've said many times before, we need to protect Apple's intellectual properties when companies steal our ideas."
Apple has 21 days to appeal the decision.
Though Samsung won in the U.K., it didn't in the U.S. Late last month, a judge temporarily banned sales of the Galaxy Tab pending a trial between Apple and Samsung scheduled to begin July 30.
At this year's InformationWeek 500 Conference, C-level execs will gather to discuss how they're rewriting the old IT rulebook and accelerating business execution. At the St. Regis Monarch Beach, Dana Point, Calif., Sept. 9-11.


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a Manchester SEO agency, Gorilla Marketing have announced that both the agency and all employees have become carbon negative through their partnerships with Ecologi, Krystal and Ecotricity. This makes Gorilla Marketing the first SEO company in Manchester to take this important step.
In today’s climate crisis, more and more businesses are looking for ways to reduce their carbon footprints and operate in a sustainable way. Gorilla Marketing are proud to be leading the way in this area, and are committed to doing their part to help protect the environment. As a business centred online, Gorilla recognise the important role they play in combatting climate change and are proud to take steps to offset their carbon emissions. This is just one part of their ongoing commitment to sustainability, too.
“We’re thrilled to have finally become carbon negative” said Kyle James, a director of Gorilla Marketing. “It’s something we’ve wanted to do for a long time. At Gorilla we believe that businesses have a responsibility not only to make a profit but also to protect the environment—it’s good for the planet and it’s even good for business. We hope that our example will inspire other companies in Manchester to follow suit.”
How Gorilla Marketing partnered with Ecologi to become carbon negative
The partnership with Ecologi sees Gorilla Marketing plant hundreds of trees each month, as well as fund climate projects to offset their carbon footprint. Ecologi is a service that allows businesses to measure and offset their carbon emissions quickly and easily by signing up for a monthly plan.
According to their website, “each month [they] support a range of carbon reduction projects that are certified at the very highest level by Gold Standard and equivalent,” and Gorilla are proud to be a part of this goal. Recent projects include protecting the Amazon rainforest in Peru, providing access to clean cookstoves to reduce emissions in Eritrea, and reforesting Madagascar. With initiatives like these, Ecologi is making a real difference in the fight against climate change, and makes it easy for businesses like Gorilla to do their bit.
The benefits of becoming carbon negative for Gorilla Marketing
Going carbon negative is not only good for the environment—it also makes good business sense. Being seen to take action on climate change may help Gorilla Marketing attract and retain customers and retain the top SEO talent in the country, as more and more people are looking to do business with companies that share their values. In addition, becoming carbon negative can help Gorilla Marketing save money by reducing energy consumption and waste, particularly with energy and petrol prices rising sharply.
What else is Gorilla Marketing doing to reduce their carbon footprint?
Besides planting trees, Gorilla Marketing are taking a number of other steps to reduce their impact on the environment. These include using eco-friendly SEO tools like Sitebulb, hosting with Krystal and encouraging their workforce to use public transport, and continuing to donate to gorilla sanctuaries that preserve the animals’ habitat.
The positive effects of going carbon negative for Manchester
Based in the heart of the Northern Quarter, Gorilla Marketing know better than most the effects that going carbon negative would have on the city. In fact, the Victorian building on Lever Street that Gorilla calls home bears the scars of smog and is situated on a main road.
“Manchester is a city that is really starting to come alive with regards to sustainability,” said Gorilla Marketing SEO manager, Jamie Fallon. “There are now so many initiatives and organisations doing great work to make Manchester more environmentally friendly, and it’s something that we’re really proud to be a part of. We hope that our new partnership will inspire other businesses in Manchester to make the switch and help make our city a more sustainable place to live and work.”
To provide a comprehensive, all-in-one digital marketing and design solution to businesses of all sizes.
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Digital payment company Zelle sent $39 billion through its network on 147 million transactions during the first quarter of this year, the company said in a news release.
Early Warning Services LLC, which is the network operator behind the company, announced the Q1 news on Wednesday (April 24). Payment values went up 54 percent year over year, and payment volume increased 72 percent.
“This past quarter Zelle achieved several milestones toward our goal of nationwide ubiquity,” said Lou Anne Alexander, group president of payments solutions at Early Warning. “Our core processor partners have achieved tremendous results, signing more than a hundred and thirty banks and credit unions in Q1. In addition, our new marketing campaign was launched, tapping into everyday use cases of Zelle, designed to drive deeper knowledge and relevance with consumers.”
The Zelle network is used by upwards of 5,391 financial institutions, either through a mobile banking app or by registering a debit card with Zelle’s app.
Zelle has also been touting an ad campaign called “Everyday Better,” to highlight person-to-person (P2P) payments.
“Although digital P2P adoption first caught on with millennials, adoption of P2P services continues to rise among all generations. The Everyday Better campaign from Zelle highlights situations that appeal to a broad spectrum of people, tapping into moments everyone can relate to, such as graduation, rent, birthdays, brunch, and family reunions,” the company said. “The campaign continues to use bright colors, quirky humorous characters and fun memorable lines that demonstrate an alternative to using cash or checks.”
Zelle also had a fortuitous fourth quarter, along with Venmo. In Q4, Venmo posted an 80 percent spike in transaction volume, hitting $19 billion in the fourth quarter of 2018, according to PayPal’s most recent financial earnings release. When it came to total P2P volume, including transfers sent through the core PayPal service, the Q4 volume hit $39 billion.
That last figure was ahead of Zelle’s reported payment volume of $35 billion during the fourth quarter of 2018, but there’s a hitch to that — that $39 billion was for the entire PayPal network, not just Venmo for that quarter.
Meanwhile, for the full year 2018, Zelle had $119 billion worth of payments via 433 million transactions. The Zelle network includes “229 financial institutions [FIs] — 60 of which are live and processing transactions,” according to Early Warning Services. Those institutions serve some 100 million customers.


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Nutrition news: the latest research
Despite what Instagram might tell you, there’s no one single diet that’s best for all people (although some are better than others). But one thing is abundantly clear: eating nutritious whole foods, including plenty of plants, is always the way to go. In nutrition news this week, a study from Sydney University shows just how much of a difference a healthy diet can make when it comes to ageing well and beating disease. Also fresh from the lab, an Edith Cowan University study uncovers an excellent reason to treat yourself to that second coffee. Plus, Queensland researchers address the popular belief that autism is caused by the gut.
Diet vs. drugs: food as medicine
A study comparing the impact of diet versus drugs on the inner workings of cells has found nutrition has a much stronger impact than medication. Research by the University of Sydney’s Charles Perkins Centre suggests the make-up of our diet could be more powerful than drugs in keeping conditions like diabetes, stroke and heart disease at bay.
Conducted in mice, the research showed nutrition (including overall calories and macronutrient balance) had a greater impact on ageing and metabolic health than three drugs commonly used to treat diabetes and slow down ageing.
“We discovered dietary composition had a far more powerful effect than drugs,” says senior author, Professor Stephen Simpson. “Given humans share essentially the same nutrient-signalling pathways as mice, our study suggests people would get better value from changing their diet to improve metabolic health rather than taking the drugs we studied.”
Does the gut cause autism?
In myth-busting nutrition news, a new study led by Mater Research and the University of Queensland has challenged the increasingly popular belief that the gut microbiome drives autism. The study’s findings may put the brakes on the experimental use of microbiome-based interventions. Some people believe things like faecal microbiota transplants and probiotics may help to treat or minimise autism.
The researchers found changes in the gut microbiome of people on the autism spectrum appear to be due to fussy eating. This is more common among autistic children due to sensory sensitivities or restricted and repetitive interests.
“While it’s a popular idea that the microbiome affects behaviour, our findings flip that on its head,” says study author Chloe Yap. “We found that children with autism tended to be pickier eaters, which led to a less diverse microbiome. This suggests that behaviour and dietary preferences affect the microbiome, rather than the other way around.”
Coffee could lower risk of Alzheimer’s
Some cheering news for those of us who can’t face the day without their morning flat white. A long-term study has revealed that drinking greater amounts of coffee could make you less likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease.
Researchers from Edith Cowan University investigated whether coffee intake affected the rate of cognitive decline of more than 200 Australians over a decade. The results showed an association between coffee and several important markers related to Alzheimer’s disease.
Participants with no memory impairments and with higher coffee consumption at the start of the study had a lower risk of transitioning to mild cognitive impairment or developing Alzheimer’s disease over the course of the study.
Drinking more coffee gave positive results in relation to certain domains of cognitive function; specifically, executive function, which includes planning, self-control and attention. Higher coffee intake also seemed to be linked to slowing the accumulation of amyloid protein in the brain. This is a key factor in the development of Alzheimer’s.